By Daniele Santos

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) received an increase in this year’s budget for the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites—amounting to a whopping P14 billion, which is a PHP 12 billion raise compared to the initially-proposed PHP 2 billion by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). The sudden increase in the allocated budget faced several concerns, particularly from Independent Minority Congressman, Albay, 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman, who asserted that the aforementioned additional budget would be used for a “Charter change rampage,” as it was placed under the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites category. 

With the additional budget of the Comelec reopening the unsolved case of the Charter change dispute in the Marcos-Duterte administration, many eagle-eyed citizens are now closely awaiting and watching the Comelec’s next plan of action, which begs the questions: What actions will the Comelec take? Will they take the right path and prevent this financial hazard from becoming a disaster?

A New Year’s Surprise

Initially, the Comelec requested a budget of PHP 43 billion for the year 2024, noting that it would be used for the preparations for the upcoming 2025 elections. However, the Executive Branch only proposed PHP 27 billion to the Congress. With that, Comelec Chairman George Garcia personally appealed and requested their budget be restored to PHP 40 billion, as stated by House appropriations panel Zaldy Co. Accordingly, the bicameral conference committee approved this request and restored Comelec’s budget to PHP 40 billion. Garcia then confirmed that the electoral body did ask for an increase in the allocated budget under the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites, expressing gratitude to the bicameral in a statement to GMA News Online. 

However, Congressman Lagman contends that the budget increase is allocated to items unrelated to what the Comelec originally requested. He claims that the Comelec did not ask for an increase under the item conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes and plebiscites. Lagman adds, “I have asked Chairman Garcia, through a mutual friend, whether he requested this huge increase, and he said no.”

It cannot be denied that the action taken by the bicameral conference committee was surprising and unusual, as, for the past five years, the budget allocated under the item conduct of elections and plebiscites ranged from P1.9 billion to P2.2 billion, which then expanded to P14 billion this year—why? Is there something happening this year that pushed the bicameral to this decision? Even if the Comelec did request such an increase in the budget under this item, why this year? Why now? 

Consequently, the PHP 12-billion budget increase will likely go to waste, as the Comelec did not plan to conduct dozens of plebiscites or other similar electoral processes this year. If the electoral body does not handle this budget carefully, it may lead to a disastrous scenario where the government invests public funds in projects from which citizens may not even benefit. This could mirror past instances where the government wasted over P7.43 billion on expired, near-expiry, damaged, excessive, and undistributed medicines and drugs. These funds could have been better used for managing and distributing medicines to the marginalized sectors. Truly, it is not a surprise that the government can be careless with Filipino citizens’ money, as it is often easy to spend money that was not hard-earned.

On the other hand, amidst the controversy surrounding the financing of the Cha-Cha claims, the DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman clarified the issue, stating during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, “The Constitution grants fiscal autonomy to the Comelec and declares that its approved annual appropriations shall be automatically and regularly released.” In addition, Pangandaman mentioned that the additional PHP 12 billion may be used by the Comelec for various activities, including a possible plebiscite for Cha-Cha, if the Congress pushes for it this year. 

With the DBM Secretary Pangandaman, clarifying and confirming the Comelec’s ability to use the budget for possible charter change, confirms the government’s intention to push for it. However, Congressman Lagman pointed out that the P14-billion budget allocated to only one item under the Comelec’s budget exceeds the overall funding of other government agencies. For instance, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has a budget of P9.8 billion, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has P8.6 billion, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has P3.4 billion, and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has P3.3 billion. Undoubtedly, the decision by the Congress to grant the Comelec a P12-billion increase under an item with a plebiscite raises questions about the government’s true intentions and priorities. As seen in their budgetary actions and decisions, it seems as though the plebiscite and a possible charter change are more prioritized than the concerns of other government agencies. 

New Year, New Cha-Cha Dispute

With the resurfacing discussions about the possibility of a charter change this year, it is not the first time this conflict emerged as the talk of the town. In 2016, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte supported federalism, which necessitated a charter change.

Last year, in the first year under the Marcos-Duterte administration, another charter change was proposed, aiming to amend “restrictive economic provisions.” However, this proposal was met with yet another set of concerns, with Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez acknowledging that the charter change could go as far as amending certain political revisions. 

However, all past attempts at charter change share a common theme—a lack of clear direction and progress, as all of them eventually failed. This not only wasted the government’s time, attention, and effort, but also diverted resources from addressing the current complex issues in the Philippines. Redirecting these efforts and budgets towards resolving present challenges would ensure the appropriate use of public funds and provide a clear sense of purpose and direction. 

Now, the charter change dispute returns as the talk of the town during the first month of the year, with Senate Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri filing Resolution on Both Houses no. 6, which proposes amendments to economic provisions, particularly in Articles 12, 14, and 16 of the Constitution. “This is to avert a constitutional crisis between the House of Representatives and the Senate, and to make it clear that there are no other planned provisions or amendments on any other thing but purely economic in nature,” the Senate Leader added.

Moreover, the House of Representatives, the other chamber of the Congress, is also pushing for the charter change this year. House Ways and Means panel chair Joey Salceda of Albay’s Second District proclaimed that the only way the charter change can happen is through the People’s Initiative (PI), and that the supporters of the PI must wait for the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Comelec. “Hihintayin namin ‘yung Comelec. By the way, our democracy operates, it is an independent body. We have to respect [it], that’s the only way,” Salceda added.

Given the history of the charter change disputes and how they manage to dominate public discourse every year, promising to improve the quality of life in the country without clear or direct progress, the government should refrain from allocating public funds under any government agency’s item that does not offer clear and direct change to more complex matters. This is especially crucial now as the Philippines faces economic issues that are in dire need of addressing, such as the jeepney phaseout. The said initiative could result in the loss of jobs for 140,000 drivers and 60,000 operators of unconsolidated public utility vehicles (PUVs) in the near future, directly affecting not only the country’s economy but also its transportation system. 

New Year’s Resolutions

On the other hand, now that the Comelec has been granted an additional PHP 12 billion for their budget, they have the opportunity to use this grant towards various activities beyond financing Cha-Cha, such as addressing internal issues within the government agency and its system.

For instance, the electoral body can use their budget to purchase new vote counting machines (VCMs) to replace the 180,000 precinct count optical scanners (PCOS) and VCMs used during the periods of 2010-2013 (PCOS) and 2016-2022 (VCM) in preparation for the 2025 elections. Moreover, they may allocate a portion of this additional budget to improve election security, particularly in light of recent incidents. The most recent barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, for instance, recorded 19 deaths, 19 wounded, and 113 more related incidents. 

Given the ongoing issues within the Comelec’s system, instead of solely focusing on and financing the long overdue charter change, the government agency must take a more proactive approach and initiate reforms now. With the additional P12 billion budget allocated for the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites, the Comelec has the opportunity to implement decisive measures. This involves redirecting their budget towards addressing the issues and concerns within our electoral system to prevent the wastage of the public’s hard-earned money.